Why We Argue

Hosted by political philosopher and Vanderbilt University professor Robert Talisse, Why We Argue is an interview podcast that brings in academics, philosophers, historians, journalists, politicians, and other notable public figures to think about the state of American political discourse and the roll intellectual humility can play in public conversation. Created by Humility & Conviction in Public Life a project of the University of Connecticut's Humanities Institute and funded by the John Templeton Foundation.

Steven Kullis a Senior Research Associate and director of theProgram for Public Consultationat the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. He is also the Founder and Director of the nonpartisan organizationVoice of the People,which is working to create structures and institutions that would enrich the channels of communication between Congress and citizens. Steven is a political psychologist who studies a range of phenomena from public political ignorance and popular attitudes about climate change to congressional decision-making and international attitudes towards religion.

This episode will feature a conversation between former presidential advisor David Gergen, Rabbi Melissa Weintraub ofResetting the Table, and Eboo Patel of theInterfaith Youth Core, taken from Humility and Conviction in Public Life’s eventFaith & Politicswhich was held on April 25, 2018 at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum in Hartford, Connecticut with theCT Forum. The conversation was moderated by John Dankosky of Connecticut public radio.

Michael Sandelis Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University. Sandel is an internationally renowned political philosopher whoNewsweekhas lauded as “the world’s most relevant living philosopher.” His latest project is a video series titledWhat Money Can’t Buy, which has Michael and an international group of college students exploring the question “What, if anything, is wrong with a

This episode is a collection of segments from papers given at Humility and Conviction in Public Life’sworkshop on Political Polarization and Epistemic Arrogance. On this episode you will hear short selections from talks given byJennifer Saul, Lani Watson, Michael Lynch, Alessandra Tanesini, Elizabeth Krumrei Mancuso, Steven Sloman, and Heather Battaly.

Shanto Iyengaris Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. He has written extensively on news media and political communication in contemporary democracy. His most recent book is titledMedia Politics: A Citizen’s Guide(W. W. Norton, 2015); new edition is forthcoming this year. His current research focuses on political polarization, framing effects, and political affect.

Myisha Cherryis a PhD candidate in Philosophy at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and next year will be Assistant Professor of Philosophy at University of California, Riverside. She is co-editor of the volume,The Moral Psychology of Anger. Her work is focused on the nature of anger and forgiveness, especially in the context of racial injustice. Cherry is also the host and creator of theUnMute Podcast.

Quassim Cassamis Professor of Philosophy at University of Warwick in the UK. His academic work resides at the intersection of epistemology and philosophy of mind, where he explores topics pertaining to self-knowledge, self-deception, and epistemic virtue and vice. His forthcoming book is titledVices of the Mind, and it will be published this year with Oxford University Press.

John Corvinois Professor of Philosophy at the Wayne State University in Detroit. His academic work focuses on topics in moral, social, and legal philosophy surrounding sexuality, gender, marriage, religious conviction, and discrimination. But John is also an active public philosopher who frequently participates in public debates over these topics. He produces and appears in a popularYouTube seriesof short videos devoted to the philosophical discussion of controversial topics. He is the author ofWhat’s Wrong with Homosexuality?, co-author (with Maggie Ghallagher) ofDebating Same Sex Marriage, and.co-author (with Ryan Anderson and Sherif Girgis) ofDebating Religious Liberty and Discrimination, all published with Oxford University Press.

Jon Olafssonis Professor in the n the department of Comparative and Cultural Studies at the University of Iceland. His research is focused on democracy, political participation, dissent, reconciliation, and social criticism. Jon has written extensively about the efforts in Iceland – from roughly 2010 to 2013 - to revise the nation’s constitution.

Sandy Goldbergis Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University. He specializes in epistemology and philosophy of language, with particular interest in the social aspects of knowledge and speech; these foci converge in his ongoing work on testimony. Sandy has written several books includingRelying on Others(Oxford 2010) and, more recently,Assertion(Oxford 2015); his forthcoming book is titledTo the Best of Our Knowledge, and is forthcoming with Oxford University Press.

Kate Manneis Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University. She specializes in moral and social philosophy and feminist philosophy. her new book is titledDown Girl: The Logic of Misogyny(Oxford 2018).

TommieShelby is Caldwell Titcomb Professor of African and African-American Studies, and Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University. His research focuses on political equality and problems of economic, social, and criminal justice. His most recent book is Dark Ghettos: Injustice, Dissent, and Reform, which is published by Harvard University Press.

How does corporate misinformation and partisan skepticism effect what we know about climate change? Lawrence Torcello is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Rochester Institute of Philosophy. His research focuses on social and political philosophy, democratic theory, and climate justice.

Seana Shiffrinis Professor of Philosophy and Pete Kameron Professor of Law and Social Justice at UCLA. She defends the “thinker theory” of freedom of speech, which holds that a central reason for upholding a moral and legal system of free speech is that such a system is necessary for free thought and reflective action. This view is articulated in her book, Speech Matters:On Lying, Morality, and the Law (Princeton 2014).

Helene Landemore is Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at Yale University. She defends the idea that democracy succeeds at harnessing the collective wisdom of the citizenry. This view is spelled out in her 2013 book Democratic Reason (Princeton University Press 2013). Landemore is currently completing a new book about the institutional design of a smart democracy.

Thom Brooks is Dean of Durham Law School, Professor of Law and Government, and Associate in the Department of Philosophy in the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University. His academic work focuses on issues in Ethics, Criminal Law, and Public Policy. But he is widely known as an outspoken critic of the UK Citizenship Test. His most recent book is Becoming British: UK Citizenship Examined (Biteback Publishing 2016).

Trudy Govier is Emerita Professor of Philosophy at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. Her research is focused on the nature of argumentation and questions concerning social trust, forgiveness, and reconciliation. She is also the author of a highly influential informal logic text, A Practical Study of Argument (7th edition, Cengage), as well as Forgiveness and Revenge (Routledge 2002) and Victims and Victimhood (Broadview 2015).

Akeel Bilgrami is Sidney Morgenbesser Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, and a member of Columbia’s Committee on Global Thought. Bilgrami’s research spans issues in Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language, Moral Philosophy, and Political Philosophy. His most recent book is titled Secularism, Identity, and Enchantment(Harvard 2014). And he is the author of the forthcoming book, What is a Muslim?(Princeton UP).

Don't discuss politics at the dinner table? Why not? Karen Stohr is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Senior Research Scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. Stohr’s research focuses on Immanuel Kant’s moral philosophy and virtue theory. She is the author of academic articles dealing with topics such as beneficence, modesty, and friendship. In her recent book, On Manners (Routledge 2012), Stohr argues that the social niceties commonly characterized as manners have distinctively moral content.